While the Assembly recessed for their summer recess last week, the Senate remained in session this week. Most of their work was focused on a few special hearings focused on outbreaks of COVID-19 at the California/Mexico border and in California’s state prisons (see below for hearing details). Members of both houses will be out of…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Senate Public Safety Committee convened an informational hearing to assess COVID-19 in California’s state prisons. Committee Chair Senator Nancy Skinner opened Wednesday’s hearing by providing an overview of the current COVID-19 case counts within state prisons among inmates and staff, as well as remarks on the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s…
Read More »On Tuesday, the Senate Select Committee on California-Mexico Cooperation and the Senate Special Committee on Pandemic Emergency Response convened an informational hearing to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the California-Mexico border region. The hearing began with opening remarks from Select Committee Chair Senator Ben Hueso, Special Committee Chair Senator Lena Gonzalez, and Consul General…
Read More »Today, the California State Senate met its deadline to advance measures introduced in their house of origin, concluding a busy week of floor sessions throughout the week. While the bulk of the Legislature’s focus remained on the 2020 Budget Act this week, the Senate deliberated and advanced numerous measures to the Assembly for further consideration….
Read More »This week the Legislature finished their house of origin hearings with the Senate Appropriations Committee meeting to dispense with their suspense file measures. Of interest to local health departments, SB 793, Senator Jerry Hill’s proposal to ban flavored tobacco, did pass off the suspense file (5-1) with amendments to exempt the sale of flavored shisha…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Senate Rules Committee advanced to the Senate Floor the confirmation of California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Health Officer Dr. Sonia Angell on a vote of 4-0 with one member not voting. During the Senate Rules Committee hearing, Senators extensively queried Dr. Angell on the state’s ongoing response activities…
Read More »This week, the Senate and Assembly convened separate hearings on COVID-19 outbreaks in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) throughout the state. Below, we detail the two hearings: Assembly Health and Assembly Aging & Long-Term Care Committees Assess the State’s Response On Tuesday, the Assembly Health Committee and the Assembly Aging & Long-Term Care Committee convened a…
Read More »This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee assembled for their house of origin hearing this year. Members of the committee met to hear over 90 bills, with the majority of measures placed on the Suspense File. The Committee will meet next week to dispense with these suspense file bills including SB 793, Senator Jerry Hill’s measure…
Read More »On Wednesday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee convened its suspense file hearing, determining the fate of numerous bills amid limited budget resources due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Lorena Gonzalez opened Wednesday’s hearing noting that the committee had referred 188 out of 307 bills to the suspense file on Tuesday, representing over…
Read More »Despite the holiday weekend, the Senate conducted budget hearings throughout the Memorial Day weekend, and with the shortened week this week, they also wrapped up their policy committee hearings. As you may recall, the Assembly returned to Sacramento a week earlier than the Senate, so there was some catch-up to do in the upper chamber….
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